


Settle Down With Me

by laurelhips



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-07
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-03 22:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelhips/pseuds/laurelhips
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Home is wherever I’m with you</i>. </p><p>The progression of Harry and Louis' lives as they intertwine, starting from the first house key.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Settle Down With Me

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Settle Down With Me](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/31854) by blaien (aka me!). 



> heyo! this is basically a re-work of one of my previous fics of the same title but for a different ship. i liked it so much i thought i'd repost it for my current otp ^-^

Harry knew something was different from the moment he walked in the door. Of course, Louis' house always brought about a sense of belonging and an overwhelming feeling of home, but Harry always associated that with Louis' presence in the place; from his knickknacks cluttering the shelves, the assortment of pens and pencils littering every surface right down to the endearing way his clothes were hung and folded over various pieces of furniture. Until tonight, Harry had never given it much thought.

"You...this is really happening, right?" Harry was holding the little sliver of metal between his fingers, toying with it's freshly cut edges, his thoughts were jumbled and his breathing was unsteady. "Like I'm not gonna wake up tomorrow with a metaphorical hole in my heart shaped exactly like this key, right?"

"Of course it's happening, I mean, if it's too much..." Louis barely gets the words out before Harry's lips are on his, pressing insistently and tongue searching. Harry pulls back for a fraction of a second to mumble against Louis' lips.

" _Honey I'm home._ "

\------------------------------------------------

" _Honey I'm home!_ "

Harry drops his key ring into the bowl by the front door, an unpleasant clink as it hits the bottom.

Harry's mouth shapes into a frown, he'd been hoping Louis would be home already.

Harry's arrival was some what of a surprise, a secret if you will. He'd been away for a month and a half, doing some press junkets and interviews across the pond. He'd been expecting to be gone for at least another month, three weeks minimum, but his publicist had called things off because of "contractual disagreements with the media" basically translating to she'd had enough of Harry's whining and pining and had decided he could go home early.

Though they kept in close contact with daily phone calls and an almost constant stream of nonsensical text messages, the distance could never be minimized. Even a day without each other was enough to drive each of them right mad.

Harry hummed as he walked through the hallway towards the kitchen, noting the new additions to the walls since he'd been gone.

There's a few pictures of him and Louis snuggling with Zayn and Perrie’s first little one and some older pictures of the girls and Jay that they must've just got in the post. Harry smiles as he passes, relishing in the the homey feelings.

Pulling open the fridge, Harry hums about what to make as a "honey I came home to surprise you" dinner. Since he'd left, it seemed as though Louis hadn't bothered to cook any of the groceries they'd bought. Harry shakes his head fondly, Louis' distaste for cooking his own meals certainly hadn’t changed.

Harry settled for classic fajitas, still easily Louis' favorite meal to date. As he began pulling out ingredients, he heard a key turn in an already open lock. Harry paused his motions, waiting, listening.

He heard the door close shut, Louis' deep sigh--he could picture it, Louis rolling his neck and scrunching his face. He heard the clunk of shoes being kicked off Louis' probably sore feet.

Harry bit back his grin, waiting for his favorite sound--the sound of Louis' keys dropping into the bowl. Of course, Louis would surely have to notice the sound of metal on metal rather than metal on glass.

Except he didn't hear a sound. Harry waited...and waited...but there was no dropping of keys into bowl. Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, Harry took steps toward the front door only to see Louis standing there, looking at the bowl.

As if sensing his presence, Louis' eyes flashed up to meet Harry's.

"You're home," Louis' words were soft and disbelieving.

"I'm home," Harry's words were equally soft. The silence in the house was broken by Louis' pounding footsteps as he took a running leap at Harry, his arms around Harry's shoulders, his legs around his waist.

"You're home."

" _I'm home._ "

\------------------------------------------------

" _I'm home!_ "

Harry dropped his keys into the bowl, the familiar sound of metal on metal filling his ears.

"Daddy!" There was a chorus of shouts and thundering footsteps.

Harry dropped his bag and shucked his blazer off as the sounds came closer. Just as he squatted down to untie his shoes, he was forced to abandon all ships when he was attacked by an arms-full worth of children.

"Well hello, munchkin one and munchkin two," Harry teased dropping kisses to their hairlines.

"I'm not a munchkin, daddy, I'm a girl," Olivia chastised.

"Yeah, I not a mun'kin, dada, I a girl, too!" James piped.

"You're not a girl, Jams, you're a boy!" Olivia informed him with a well meaning pat to his shoulder.

"And daddy's a big hungry bear, rawr!" Harry began pretend-eating his children's necks, the kids squealing with delight at their daddy's silly chomping noises.

Standing on his feet, Harry carried the two kids towards the living room, bouncing and blowing raspberries on them the whole way.

"Daddy stop it! It tickles!" Olivia shrieked with joy.

"Dada stop! Tickles!" James mimicked.

"Sounds like my babies are being gobbled up," A familiar voice called from the bedroom. Changing his destination, Harry began rocking the kids back and forth, his walking morphing into exaggerated stomps.

"Papa run! The Daddy monster's coming!" Olivia screamed as she squirmed in her daddy's arms.

"I think I'll take my chances, Olive," Louis shouted in reply.

Popping the door open with his hip, Harry stopped his raspberry blowing and stomping to take in the sight before him. Louis was curled up in bed, his laptop propped on a pillow while an episode of Adventure Time played on the screen.

Harry put the kids on the ground, allowing them to hop up onto the bed and join their Papa.

"Papa save us! Daddy monster tickles and bounces and stomps." Olivia whispered quite seriously.

"Dada bounces! Papa, dada!" James gestured at Harry, bouncing on his little bum for effect.

"Well hey there, stranger," Harry spoke softly, leaning across the bed to place a kiss on Louis' lips.

"Hello to you too, Daddy Harry, or should I say, Daddy monster." Louis smirked appreciatively.

"How was your day with the munchkins?" Harry asked as he slid into bed beside Louis. The kids had all but forgotten about daddy monster as their eyes watched the laptop screen intently.

"Oh, you know, a little hectic. Jams thinks he's big enough to color with the big kid paints, but our ruined rug would say otherwise. Olive is getting closer to losing that baby tooth, wiggled it a whole lot all day she says,"

"I did, Papa, I really did!" Olivia retorted, her eyes peeling from the screen for only a second.

"And? How were you, super Dad?" Harry poked Louis' side affectionately.

"Same as ever, tired as hell and living on a prayer,"

"That's a bad word, Papa," Olivia spoke very seriously.

"Ba' word, Papa!" James chimed in.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyways, my day was typical how was yours? You're home early, I would've had dinner ready." Louis rubs at Harry's temple with his thumb, noting the sprinkles of grey hair blooming nearby.

"Erin is still sick, really bad bug going around the studio I guess," Harry shrugs, slipping his arm around Louis' shoulders.

"Still? Geez, must be some bug to keep Erin away from piano lessons. She really admires you." Louis' eyes flicker to the laptop screen before his attention is fixed on Harry again. "Did you miss us?"

Harry watches Olivia and James, small giggles escaping their lips at the cartoon characters, he looks to Louis, the love of his life with tired eyes full of sparkle.

"You know what they say," Harry presses a kiss to Louis' nose. " _There's no place like home._ "

\------------------------------------------------

" _There's no place like home._ "

Harry drops the keys into the bowl, the sound of metal on metal ringing in his ears, a sound he'd been missing for so long.

"You know, when Olivia said "relaxed and summery" I didn't imagine a beach wedding in Mexico with flamenco dancers," Louis rolls his shoulders, pulling his luggage behind him and knocking the door closed with his foot.

"You know Olive, ever the dreamer." Harry mused.

"Well she sure as hell didn't get that from me." Louis called as he abandoned his belongings in search of a water bottle. Harry follows suit, following Louis' voice into the kitchen.

Louis leaned against the countertop, gulping back the water, the Adam's apple in his throat bobbing alarmingly fast.

"Slow your roll, desert fiend," Harry fetched a bottle of his own and took a hearty sip before resealing it and putting it aside.

"Ugh, I'll never take water for granted again, this is perfect." Louis practically moaned as he took a few more sips before sealing the empty bottle.

"As was the wedding, which made the lack of clean water supply totally worth it," Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' waist, squeezing appreciatively at the little love handles forming at his sides.

"A beautiful wedding indeed. I feel like I'll be paying for it until I die," Louis draped his arms over Harry's shoulders.

"Oh shush, would you? Our beautiful baby girl got married yesterday and all you can think about is water and money?" There's a teasing tone in Harry's voice as he skates his fingers along Louis' back.

"I know, I know. I guess I'm just deflecting. I mean...she's not our baby anymore, she's all grown up with a man of her own. I just..." Louis' words are cut off with the comfortable pressure of Harry's lips on his.

"Can we not talk this right now? I was kind of hoping to make up for lost time, if you know what I mean?" Harry begins trailing kisses along Louis' neck, stopping to lick small stripes.

"But our beautiful baby girl just got married and all you can think about is hanky-panky?" Louis teases, his fingers tracing patterns on the back of Harry's neck as his husband sucks kisses into his collarbone. "H-Harry really? I swear to god you still have the libido of a teenager," Louis holds back as groan as Harry's tongue laves at a special spot.

"God, it's good to be home," Louis mumbles as Harry peppers more kisses lower down to his collarbone.

Harry stops to breath for a moment, locking his eyes with Louis. "Home is wherever I'm with you," The words sink in in Louis’ head, like a key just turning with a resounding click and unlocking a part of his brain he'd yet to discover.

"You sap," Louis says before their lips are sealed together in a fiery kiss that definitely counts as a prelude for what's to come.

_Home is wherever I'm with you._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos and comments are wonderful things! ^-^
> 
> follow me everywhere: [tumblr](http://hiallou.tumblr.com) | [twitter](http://twitter.com/pastaarms) | [instagram](http://instagram.com/beyprocillo)


End file.
